Death Among Flowers
by The Overscore
Summary: Frenzied Toroko is not much of a match for Quote. Defeating her is simple; almost easy. However, bringing himself to fire the final shot proves to be more difficult than he had imagined.


******Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Cave Story. Pixel does, but I don't. So that means the characters introduced in this story are not mine!**

**A/N: **_I recently beat Cave Story, and have found it to be one of the most fulfilling and awesome gaming experiences I've had in quite a while. Cave Story has definitely worked its way into becoming one of my favorite games ever. The really powerful story hidden behind the cute sprites, the amazing and really fitting soundtrack, and the tough-as-nails yet solid gameplay combine together to make a really compelling experience. Not to mention all the extra stuff you can do! :D During my time playing through this game, two things really shook me up. One, when Curly Brace gives you her Air Tank after you defeat the Core and (since I didn't grab the Tow Rope...) you are unable to do anything to save her. And two, when you are forced to kill Toroko. Man, I almost shed a tear at those moments :(_

_So I kind of wanted to retell one of the events (Toroko's death) from Quote's point of view in a short little oneshot. I'm not sure if I did the scene justice, but here's to hoping it holds up to the amazing standards this game sets for itself. Hope you enjoy! (And please review! :D)_

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He hadn't known of her existence three hours prior. She was simply another life form that he had met on his journey, and that was all. Did she deserve this? Was she his friend? Quote didn't know. He guessed it didn't really matter much now; one of them was destined to destroy the other. Existence was cruel, as he had soon figured out. But he wasn't sad.

At first, Quote acted on instinct; his programming gifted him with heightened awareness and the swiftest reaction time. She had charged, and he had sidestepped. Without questioning his actions, he had fired upon her, shot after shot after shot. Of course, she retaliated. She threw blocks at him. Large blocks that housed deadly golden flowers; flowers that jumped at him desperately, in an attempt to cause harm. Did these get in his way? No, not at all. The flowers were slow, Quote was fast. A jump here, a jump there, and a single well-fired shot was all it took to neutralize the floral threat. He never gave her enough time to get more than two flowers out.

Quote was good at fighting. He had fought as far back as his data storage would allow him to remember. The tactics the enraged Mimiga used might have been able to work on others not as combat-attuned as he was, but they would not work on him.

Something in Quote's head had told him the Fireball would work better than the Polar Star. The floor of the storehouse sloped gently downward to create an indentation in the middle of the room, and the Fireball's projectiles would make good use of the area. As soon as Quote began firing the Fireball, he found his intuition to be correct. Toroko had charged recklessly into the middle of the room and had found herself in the center of an inferno. Her shrieks of pain, her bulging reddened eyes, the desperation in her gaze; Quote wanted to finish her off quickly, but in her enraged state, she didn't give in. She charged again; block in hand, screaming as the flames devoured her...

It wasn't long ago that Quote had met her for the first time. To be honest, he had met pretty much everyone he ever knew in the past 24 hours, and if there were others that he had met before, he didn't remember. Of the ones he met though, there was Curly, the only other robot he knew of that was actively trying to save the Mimigas. There was Mahin, the well-informed Mimiga who never stopped eating. There was Kanpachi, the kind fisherman. Santa, the Mimiga who lived on the edge of the Bushlands. Chaco, Santa's colorful neighbor. Sue and Kazuma, the two human children who had asked for his help. Professor Booster, the just and wise man with an interesting taste in eyewear. Jenka, the caring old woman with five dogs. King, who was dying in the corner of the storehouse.

He had known none of them.

And yet...

...No, no. He wasn't sad; he couldn't be. He didn't know what he was. He was a robot; he knew that much. Robots didn't have feelings.

He was meant to kill things! That's what he knew best, that's what his existence revolved around. Life ends, life begins; he was just a part of the process. Kill someone to save another. But did he _have _to kill? Again, he didn't know. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to use his killing prowess to save the Mimigas.

...But he knew he was the only one who had a chance of doing so. The Doctor had shown himself to be an especially cunning and ruthless character, and his servant Misery had been able to knock down the strongest Mimiga with ease. It seemed like the evil duo would stop at nothing to ensure the destruction of both the Mimigas and the humans. If there was something other than death that would stop them, it certainly wasn't showing itself.

Maybe Curly would be able to put up a fight with him; she had a Machine Gun and she used it well. Quote didn't know if Curly was as good as him at killing things, but together, maybe they'd be able to stop this "war" that Professor Booster had mentioned. Maybe they could save the Mimigas.

But what did "saving" actually mean? To give the Mimigas a chance to be free of the Doctor's influence? To have the chance to live longer lives? ...Then what exactly was he doing to Toroko?

She was still charging him and he had not yet moved. Her mouth was opened in a fearsome, screaming snarl, and she was getting closer. The block was already raised above her head, ready to come crashing down upon him. As ferocious as she seemed, she was losing juice, and Quote knew it. The Fireball had done its job and had done it well; Toroko's fur was charred and the flames continued to work at her flesh. Quote took all of this in, watching the dreadful spectacle he had helped create.

Her large, monstrously deformed body loomed over him, and for an instant, the rabid Toroko met Quote's gaze. In that instant, he saw the Toroko he had met in Mimiga Village; the same one that had adamantly tried to protect Sue Sakamoto. Quote could've sworn she was crying. He silently switched to his Polar Star, and took aim.

No, he wasn't sad.

He pulled the trigger.


End file.
